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Amelia’s Magazine | MOSCHINO: London Collections: Men S/S 2015 Catwalk Review

Moschino S/S 2015 by Krister Selin

Moschino was the hottest ticket during London Collections: Men, and the 300-strong queue outside Lindley Hall was testament to that. Inside, the wall had been branded with a huge Moschino decal; cameras whirled above our heads on enormous tripods. The noise was deafening. Everybody seemed a bit sexier and they all had Moschino french fries iPhone cases.

My naivety, and inability to attend fashion weeks other than London-based ones, meant that I felt like I had been transported to a Versace show in Milan in the 1990s. My absolute favourite kind of fashion is trashy Italian fashion – the style of unashamed glamour that the Italians do so well, introduced in the 1980s and infamous in the 1990s. It brought us supermodels, leather chaps on the runway and more ghetto gold than you can shake a stick at. So when I found out that Moschino were to show at London Collections: Men, in our great city for the first time, I knew I’d bend over backwards to get in. Luckily I didn’t have to do that.

Moschino S/S 2015 by Krister Selin

Nobody seemed to be getting in from outside, and as I stood next to a woman dressed head-to-toe in that ridiculous, brilliant McDonald’s inspired ensemble, I envisaged a mass scrum and hours of waiting. I was surprised the show began a mere 20 minutes late. What happened after this is a bit of a blur, the atmosphere was so electric that I think I may have blacked out from excitement at one point.

All photography by Matt Bramford

Dishy models that must have been shipped in from Italy, or perhaps paradise, strode out to the sounds of a 1990s playlist. The first section turned soft drinks and pop culture into suits, t-shirts and swimwear. Then came brightly coloured tops, sweatshirts and bikinis emblazoned with enormous Moschino type.

Chanel 2.55 knock offs with gold Moschino letters replacing the interlocking C’s eveloped one model (above), one of my favourite looks from this show.

Next, on the World Cup bandwagon and a 1990s tip, models wore prints that were happy hardcore smiley faces featuring international flags. More 90s ephemera came in the form of oversized sweatshirts, nylon bomber jackets and black mesh pieces, with a yellow tailcoat tuxedo thrown in for good measure, naturally.

Then came a sort of homage to a range of luxury fashion houses – a mock Louis Vuitton monogram print appeared on jackets and trousers, the LVs replaced with serif Ms. A ‘Fauxchino‘ motif, added to my wishlist, looked so trashy that it could have been bought from a seaside market.

Want to dress like an Hermès carrier bag? Well now you can with Moschino‘s bright orange denim jacket and jeans with black Moschino logo strips. If Hermès isn’t your bag, perhaps a Versace-esque black and gold suit will suffice?

Rhinestone dollar signs and logo sweaters completed this collection:

I love the shocking, shameless abuse of other designer brands to glorious end. That’s a somewhat difficult sentence to type amidst outrageous alleged cases of high street copycats and even fashion powerhouses ripping off London designers, but Jeremy Scott and the label pull off the plagiarism with such panache that nobody seems to bat an eyelid. This blatant disregard for intellectual property has been at the heart of the brand since Franco Moschino launched his eponymous label in 1983. And, if this collection is anything to go by, Scott is without doubt the best person to take the Moschino crown. I’m praying he brings his army of merry men and women back next year.

Written by Matt Bramford on Friday June 27th, 2014 11:18 am

Categories ,1990s, ,catwalk, ,fashion, ,Gucci, ,Hermés, ,Italian, ,Jeremy Scott, ,LCM, ,LCMSS2015, ,Lindley Hall, ,London Collections Men, ,Louis Vuitton, ,menswear, ,Monogram, ,Moschino, ,pop culture, ,review, ,SS15, ,Swimwear, ,Versace, ,Womenswear

Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2012 Catwalk Review: PPQ

PPQ S/S 2012, pharm illustrated by Tina Reidy

What a difference a season makes. This time six months ago I was still moaning to my insufferable friends about how I had waited for almost an hour in the freezing cold waiting to get into the PPQ show only to hear the music began and the burley bouncer announce than no one else would be allowed entry. If I had had the energy, capsule I would have gone wild.

PPQ S/S 2012, illustrated by Naomi Law

This time around was a different story, and I Frowed with my home boy James who I had advised to wear his TEAM GINGE vest in the hope that Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud fame would be in attendance, clock his ensemble and, I don’t know, praps marry him. Unfortunately she wasn’t there, but this was a PPQ show: a guaranteed celeb draw, so we waited patiently while a Sugababe, Pandemonia, Erin O’ Connor and Peaches Geldof took to their seats – the paps going insane for the latter who had gone pretty much unnoticed at the earlier Felder Felder show.

PPQ S/S 2012, illustrated by Tina Reidy

All photography by Matt Bramford

It’s always fun fun fun at PPQ and this season was no exception. A selection of 1990s party hits such as Felix’s Don’t You Want Me and Technotronic’s Pump Up The Jam blasted from the sound system as super sexy models sashayed before us with that kind of confidence that would make even a boiler suit seem arousing. I’m not sure if it’s just the shows I’ve been to, but I’m overjoyed to say that there’s plenty of fuller, sexier models around this season. One at Felder Felder, modelling a slinky black bikini, had the hugest breasts I’ve seen on the catwalk since Ziad Ghanem’s A/W 2010 offering. Love that.

The first look brought a hint of 1990s Chanel – a cotton bouclé number with delicate silk fringing and a pencil skirt. More Chanel-esque pieces followed, but they’d been sexed up with cream tights that featured all sorts of embellishments – jewels, ribbon, embroidery.

PPQ S/S 2012, illustrated by Alia Gargum

Next came denim for Lee, so tight you might refer to it as ‘spray on’ if you were a berk. A Texan tuxedo was one of my favourite looks in the entire show, teamed with another pastel blue bouclé jacket worn like a cape. Models were all-American blonde with full red lips; my GOD it was a relief to see some models with sex appeal. Some of them this season have been dire. If I were being paid to walk up and down a runway in clothes like this (chances unlikely) I would most certainly be able to swish it up a bit.

PPQ S/S 2012, illustrated by Jessika Tarr

Cute pastel dresses were up next in mint and blush – a more demure offering – soon forgotten when the PPQ crest prints arrived – a sort of monogram for the club kid generation rather than the Bond Street elite. I LOVED this. It evoked that inimitable and glorious 1990s Versace period when Claudia and Naomi and Cindy frolicked in wild prints and enormous gold jewellery (GOD I could Google image those pictures ALL DAY) – but PPQ somehow made it seem as fresh as if it were brand new. I particularly liked the marriage of a blazer, micro skirt, vanity bag and ankle boot all in a PPQ crest/rose print. Daniella Westbrook would go BERSERK for this garb.

PPQ S/S 2012, illustrated by Naomi Law

Erin caught me pointing my camera in the opposite direction to the model…

Bodycon prints followed, giving the already confident models so much sex appeal that I wouldn’t have been surprised if an orgy had kicked off on row D. Zorro masks worn with straw hats added a hint of kink, and then came blouson blouses, encrusted belt buckles, more embroidery, leather harnesses with playful crystals in primary colours, pearl earrings, bondage tights, more vanity handbags, more denim – it was wonderfully exhausting and by far my favourite show of the day. Nobody parties like PPQ.